Water percolation filters have been proposed and used as filters for inhaled smoke products such as combusted tobacco and marijuana. Hookahs and bongs are well known examples of devices employing water percolation filters. Water percolation may employed to filter out undesired or harmful components of the inhaled smoke such as fine particles, to cool the smoke, or the like, or a combination thereof. The majority of such water filters are incorporated into large tabletop units. Others are inconveniently shaped for many purposes, and may suffer from design drawbacks due for example to the configuration of the water filter and smoke path.
Electronic cigarettes, personal vaporizers, and similar devices have been introduced to provide an alternative to the traditional method of smoking products via combustion. Such devices typically use an electrically powered atomizer heating element to vaporize a solution containing the product to be inhaled. Combustion and the associated smoke are avoided. Some popular versions of these devices are about pen-sized and pen-shaped, that is, substantially cylindrical and linear, as well as portable, with a battery providing the electrical power for vaporizing the solution.
Although many have purported electronic cigarettes to be “safer” than traditional methods of smoking, regulatory agencies and health officials continue to question these claims.
Therefore there is a need for a water pipe percolator that is not subject to one or more limitations of the prior art.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.